Friday, August 27, 2010

HBIC Review of When Blood Calls by J.K Beck

When Blood Calls by J.K Beck
Septmeber 2010 by Bantam Books
Paperback, Pages 388
Review Copy

Review Posted by Tina at Tinasbookreviews

Book Synopsis

Sara Constantine is one of the country’s most tenacious prosecuting attorneys—and she’s just secured a well-earned promotion. At first she’s thrilled. Then she finds out her new job involves prosecuting vampires and werewolves. And nothing prepares Sara for the shock she receives when she meets the first defendant she’ll be trying to put away: Lucius Dragos, the sexy stranger with whom she recently shared an explosive night of ecstasy. When Lucius Dragos kisses the beautiful woman sitting next to him at the bar, he’s only hoping to blend into the crowd and avoid the perceptive gaze of the man he’s following…and planning to kill. But what starts as a simple kiss to secure his cover ignites into a fierce hunger that leads to an all-consuming passion. Charged with murder, Luke knows Sara will do whatever it takes to see him locked away—unless he can convince her that he’s not the monster she thinks he is. And that might mean making the greatest sacrifice a vampire can make............(Goodreads)

Review

The Shadow Keepers is a darkly multi-layered world full of violence, murder, romance and political drama. Sara the led attorney in a murder case and just newly transferred to Division 6 aka Preternatural Enforcement Coalition is faced dealing with her feelings over the defendant, someone who shares a secret with her…someone who just graced her duvet not to long ago………...While Sara is forced to deal with her feelings over Luke she is torn by the murder case, not knowing what to do with her feeling of fear and her feelings of passion the two’s relationship spins out of control……Luke an old dark vampire is no stranger to violence or murder, being an assassin can give you a somewhat cynical approach on life....but Luke has never had to pay for those murders or has had to justify the whys. Can Sara ignore her passions and find true justice for the victim or will she succumb to her own needs to help the lover of her dreams escape...

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this one, while the plot was entertaining I struggled to get the feel of the language limbo going on or rather just insert myself into the characters dialog. I can say the plot moved along fast and for sure kept me guessing until the end, which was done very nicely, nothing was really left unanswered and came full circle for all the characters. While I thought Beck certainly has the talent to write, shock and dismay her readers, When Blood Calls defiantly fell into my uncomfortable zone, especially when the demonic characters played front and center. At times I almost stopped reading due to the disturbing point of view of a child rapist and will be honest I started skimming those scenes ( child rape, pedophiles, or reading from their view point is not my cup of tea even in PNR) overall though for you PNR urban fantasy lovers out there...a scary- sexy story of the underworld meets Law and Order.

Rating

Recommended to adults only....and to only adults who can handle some of the disturbing aspects Beck writes about. Explicit graphic sexuality, graphic violence and murder. Child rapists, graphic language and many adult type themes.

2/4- PNR- Vampires-Werewolves-demons
Thank you to Ms. Beck for review copy and chance to read When Blood Calls

tina




4 comments:

ParaJunkee said...

Tina - we always seem to test your comfort level don't we???

Julie@My5monkeys said...

good review and those parts were distrubing.

Schultzies said...

Great review. You had me until the pedophilia, but perhaps I can skim those bits like you did.

booklover0226 said...

I'm squeemish to read about the pedophilia. Like other posters, it's likely I would skip that section.

Overall, this is a book I would read.

Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com